Rights Panel Targets Force Used By Police

June 26, 1992|By Melita Marie Garza.

In an investigation unlike any it has undertaken since the 1970s, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has subpoenaed thousands of Chicago Police Department documents concerning civil rights abuses, complaints of excessive force and hiring practices.

The subpoena was made public Thursday during the second day of a hearing on racial and ethnic tensions in Chicago. Police Supt. Matt Rodriguez, accompanied by attorneys for the Police Department, turned over 2,000 documents and was given 70 days to produce the other half.

The commission determined that police brutality was a major issue in Chicago after meeting with civil rights and community leaders here in preparation for the three-day hearing, said Charles Rivera, a commission spokesman.

The commission, an independent agency of the executive branch, has been asked by Congress to develop specific legislative proposals in the area of police-community relations, said commission chairman Arthur Fletcher. Its findings in Chicago will help identify areas of conflict and lead to the development of new federal laws.

``The commission would not be asking for this information if it did not have reason to believe police brutality was a problem in Chicago,`` Rivera said. ``(The commissioners) have heard a lot of allegations; they are now attempting to get at the truth.``

Among other things, the commission requested all complaints filed in May, June and July of last year involving allegations of conduct unbecoming an officer, verbal abuse, civil rights violations and use of excessive force, said Carol McCabe Booker, general counsel for the commission.

In addition, the commission requested information on the number and nature of all civil actions filed against Chicago police officers between 1987 and now, including the terms of any settlements, the dollar amounts and the disposition of the cases, Booker said.

The Police Department, however, turned over only a summary of the information, giving no indication of the nature of the cases or the number in each category. Attorneys for the department said some of the information may not be available and that some was in storage, although Rodriguez said he would cooperate fully with the commission.

In his prepared testimony, Rodriguez reiterated his position on police brutality: ``There will be zero tolerance for intolerance, unauthorized force, corruption and physical and verbal abuse in my administration.``

After the hearing, Booker said that if the Police Department did not provide the information requested, the commission would consider asking the U.S. attorney`s office to enforce the subpoena in court, possibly by finding the department in contempt.

The Chicago hearing is part of a five-year investigation that began in January in Washington. Other hearings are scheduled for Los Angeles, New York, Memphis and Miami. Booker said police records in other cities also may be subpoenaed if police brutality is found to be a prime area of concern in those communities.

The last time the commission served subpoenas on a Police Department was in 1977 and 1978, when it looked at police practices in Philadelphia and Houston, said Barbara Brooks, a commission spokeswoman. The last time it took on such a national investigative project was in the 1970s, with a five-year comprehensive look at school desegregation, she said.

The federal attention to the police abuse issue in Chicago was welcomed by a panel of civil rights advocates who testified not only about the extent of the problem but also about what they believe are deficient police procedures.

``We receive (anywhere) from two reports in a slow week to 20 in a busy week . . . and almost without exception, racial insults and/or derogatory remarks about the victim`s gender or sexual orientation are part of the picture,`` said Mary Powers, coordinator of Citizens Alert, a 15-year-old civil rights organization that assists victims of police abuse.

Mark Iris, executive director of the Chicago Police Board, testified that there was ``striking growth`` in the number of excessive force cases considered by the board between 1987 and 1991. Three cases were considered in 1987, compared with 10 in 1991, he said.

Standish Willis, a civil rights attorney, said that an overwhelming number of his cases involve people without a prior arrest record.

``Schoolteachers, bus drivers, they have families with children. These are common citizens. They are the most outraged. They are surprised and shocked when this happens to them on the street,`` he said.

Willis called for the establishment of an independent citizens review board to handle police complaints. It would replace the current office of professional standards, a civilian-staffed agency within the Police Department that is headed by a mayoral appointee who reports directly to the police superintendent.

Gayle Shines, who currently heads the office, testified that it would be impossible for a superintendent to lead a department if the authority over his officers were given to an independent agency.